Small Packages

"Sounds like him," Robert said dryly. "I didn't think he'd tell you. One moment." He went over to Angus and put his hand on Angus's forehead to assess him. For now that would have to do.

He picked up a blanket from the foot of the bed and tossed it over Angus and then returned to the door. He motioned Bella to follow him out into the hall, and then, when she'd followed, he closed the door to avoid disturbing Angus.

"He's alright for now, and as long as he listens to what I'm telling him for a couple of days, he'll be just fine. He took a direct blast of wandfire from Rupert Grundge. Understand Angus has taken a lot of wand fire in his time, but not so directly. He knows what that feels like for the most part, but I really doubt he knew what hit him.

"From where I stood, one instant he was standing, and then next he'd fallen and had blacked out. That hasn't happened to him before. Not from a wand blast. What I don't think he entirely knows is that the wand blast hit him directly in the heart. It was a crappy shot, it was half-assed, or it would have killed him. As it was, it stopped his heart. It was easy enough for me to get him back, but I think it still rattled him. His heart is undamaged. He was fortunate.

"He's always wanted to work alone. And, he's quick to back someone else up. He really sucks at taking backup with him. He's always been like that. I think he took your dad with him perhaps a bit reluctantly at first, but your dad definitely is a worthy partner.

"I'll talk to him when he wakes up. I knew this rattled him, but that wasn't the time to coach him through it. He probably would have sloughed this all off, except for one thing. You. He's always seen himself as the Expendable Sidekick for Brian or for me or for his grandfather. He always put more priority on protecting us than saving his own tail. it's different now. I think this is the first time he didn't want to be expendable because he had something worth coming home to. Perhaps this is going to end up giving him just enough of a jolt to make a better man of him. He's already a better man because of you. You'll see, he'll back to normal tomorrow-probably tired, but if I can keep him out of the kitchen for a day or two, it's going to be fine."

"He's a stubborn man. I put some ointment on his chest to help with the bruising. I have to make some more." She said going to grab the jar off the nightstand then walked back to the door to get out of his way.

She watched him throw the blanket on Angus then walk back to the door. She took one more look at Angus before following Robert out into the hall. She saw him close to door so they wouldn't disturb Angus from his sleep.

"Yeah, let's just hope that he'll listen. I figured that he usually took a lot of wand fire in his job, I just have never seen something as bad as that." She said softly listening to Robert talk about what happened tonight.

Her hand gripped the jar tightly hearing him talk about what happened. She loosened her grip when her fingers began hurting from the grip she had on the jar. She didn't think that he came that close, she kept herself calm though. "It's good there was no damage done to his heart," She said softly as a single tear ran down her cheek.

"I'm glad that my father went with him. He was trained by my grandfather before his passing, my grandfather was an Auror in Japan." She said with a small smile. "I have few memories of him."

She listened to all of his words and understood all of it but couldn't believe that he would think he was expendable. "I'll be making breakfast in the morning so that he can sleep in as long as possible." She thought about what he said when they were in cafe at the hospital. "He considers Rose his because she means a lot to him. It probably did rattle him because he knew that he had us waiting for him at home." She looked at Robert and thought hard about what she was going to say. "I have to talk with Angus about this but I don't think me and him should wait for a wedding. I always thought about having a ceremony and everything but, honestly I don't to wait any longer. Just the thought I may have lost him tonight makes me want to elope with him. I know my mother would freak but like Angus told me. It's what we want, we won't please everyone. I honestly don't care either," She said softly as she looked down at her hands that were messing with the jar.

"Well, if your dad gets bored, I'm sure I've always got enough weird things brewing that he can keep polished on his skills if he wants." He saw her with a white knuckle grip on the ointment jar and he rested his hand on hers. "It is alright to breathe. If he were truly in trouble, I'd not have left him. Oh, and by the way, there is another jar in the kitchen on the top shelf of the pantry with all the other medicines. Help yourself.

"I have a feeling that not putting off the wedding will make him very happy," Robert said when she mentioned eloping. He was glad he had told her the truth about the day's events, rather than waiting for Angus to do it. "I wouldn't spend a whole lot of time losing sleep over all of this if I were you. It really is a Gryffindor thing, you know. We Gryffindors are all an odd lot, always valuing all human life except our own, leaping in front of a speeding train if it keeps us from having to deal with the real issue--avoiding the terrifying business of loss, of losing someone we love, of fearing we'll not be good enough and will be sentenced to being alone. Self preservation is supposed to be the most powerful motivation in humanity, but, that really does depend on what you're afraid of most. If one is not afraid of death, then tossing yourself off a bridge or in front of the Knight bus is sort of a non-issue. But, believing that you'd love someone and lose them? Or worse yet, never find love at all? Ah, now that is the true terror for folks with our personality type.

"If you want to ditch the ceremony, perhaps, under the circumstances, you'll let me help. I can do weddings, you know. Not that I've done a great many. The license is simple enough. And, if you want to get away for a couple of days, I think I can provide you with any number of very private places. Not to mention that Rose, of course, can simply stay here with the rest of the herd. And, if you want to do some sort of event when you get back, then by all means. Can't promise you it will be any less chaotic, though. Seems to be part of the Lupin DNA."

"He might enjoy that, he kept that shed outback to keep himself brushed up on his skills that grandpa taught him." She said with a small smile. She took a shaky breath when he told her to breathe. "I know it's just the possibility of losing him. It's ok, making it will help ease my thoughts." She said honestly considering that her thoughts were all over the place.

"I thought it might too." She said with a smile. She nodded when he said not to lose a whole lot of sleep over what happened. "Yeah it is. Yes we Gryffindor's are an odd lot, we'd sacrifice ourselves for someone we don't even know. Before I met Angus, I thought I would end up alone and that I would die alone. Sometimes I would just stay to myself and not talk to anyone until my mother started in on me. Yes that is true terror for us. Losing someone we love or never finding anyone. It makes me wonder what the other houses feel with these things." She said looking at him then shaking her head as if to clear it. "I'm forever thankful that you were there Robert."

"You'd help? Really? You wouldn't mind?" She said looking at him with surprise. "I'll discuss it with Angus, I'm sure that we would chose you for it. I think I'd like to get away to Tuscany again, it was beautiful there. I would trust her here until my father figures out what happened, it might take me a long while to allow her to return there. Yeah I've seen the chaos that the children get themselves into here." She said with a laugh. "I think I'll grab something to eat then head to bed as well. I have an early start tomorrow to get breakfast ready for everyone. Oh and I'll have to refill this so it's ready for tomorrow as well."

"Well, if the Sorting hat is to be believed, then, it seems the general stereotype of Hufflepuffs is, I think, betrayal and abandonment. Most of my friends and family are, for some odd reason, fellow Gryffindors, so I can certainly be mistaken on that.

"In the time I've spent being on opposite viewpoints with Slytherins, it seems like one of the things they fear the most is change. Loss of what they've always known, so they root themselves in tradition.

"And, I suppose you could ask Marcus about Ravenclaws. Though most of the Ravenclaws I've ever known have a real hunger for intelligence, logic, learning. The ones that have been part of our lives have been rather quick studies at street smarts.  Some of my best espionage agents have been Ravenclaws because they adapt so quickly to learning different environments. And, whether its accurate or not, the ones I've known seem to really struggle with fears of incompetence and failure.

She mentioned being grateful he'd been there. "I went because Kate had one of those seers' things that sometimes happens, and saw the Grundge boys using their seers' skills to try to penetrate into the estate. I can't have that. I had no ability to tell Angus or your dad that after they'd gone out, but I certainly knew where the Grundges had last lived.

"Italy is a wonderful choice, and there are endless options there. Khaat and Brian have a place in Tuscany that I'm sure you could use. The Donohues have the family compound and all of their ships and yachts. And, then there's always Venice, which is a completely captivating place. I'm sure you'll make a good choice."

She said she was going to go get a bite to eat and then head to bed.  "Sounds like a wonderful idea.  I have a few things to do after dinner and then I'm going to turn in early too, I think. I think we should go get some of that cheese soup before the kids eat it all. I'll go with you."  He followed her downstairs to the dining room. He had to turn the Grundge brothers into the Ministry for prosecution. He was quite sure Kate wasn't having them in her bedroom tonight, and he couldn't really blame her for it. It was a fairly revolting thought.

When Angus woke, it was dark still. He'd gone to sleep early, and he rarely slept for more than about five hours or so at a time.  It didn't surprise him that it was shortly after one am.  He was basically done sleeping, though.

And now he felt it.  The ache in his muscles that always came after being hit. Amazingly, his back didn't hurt. Not like the rest of him did. Bella. She'd finished the massage, clearly, even though he'd not known a moment of it.  He got up, resisting the temptation to groan like an old man.  He needed to get down to the gym and stretch it out.  The chest pain was a pain he wasn't used to, though.  That was new.

He picked up his workout clothes, went downstairs, and made a pot of coffee and a pot of tea. There were always guards awake, including during the night. He knew fresh tea and coffee was always welcome here at any hour.  He saw that no one had made the yeast dough for the morning pastries, and, standing in his pajama pants in the kitchen, he put the dough together rather hastily and set it to rise and then went down to the workout room in the basement.

He was working on stretching when Robert found him.

"How goes it?" Robert asked, in his workout clothes too, and carrying a mug of tea.

"About normal," he said, working on stretching a hamstring.

"Stretching is fine. I don't want you doing any more than that today."

"Aren't you the man who trained us on the importance of getting back on the proverbial horse?"

"Yes, with one exception, or did you forget?"

"No. I'm fine. I'm just stiff."

"You still don't get it, do you? You weren't just winded yesterday. You were hit square in the chest. If I hadn't come with you, uninvited, you wouldn't be here this morning. Grundge's shot stopped your heart." Angus stopped stretching and looked at him, his eyes completely blank.

"But I was only out for a moment."

"Because I was right bloody beside you, Son," Robert said. "And I wasn't going to let you die. Your heart is fine now, relatively speaking, but you do need to take it easy for a couple days and let it recuperate. Wizards do magic, not miracles. Do try to keep it straight, would you?" Angus narrowed his eyes at Robert, annoyed. He was also partly annoyed, though, that his instincts yesterday about this being different, and being rattled but not knowing why, it had not been entirely as groundless as he'd wanted to chalk it off to being overimagination.

"So what are you going to do with this?" Robert asked him.

"Do with what?" Angus asked.

"You--realizing your own mortality and your own vulnerability. And how Bella and Rose fit into it."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Angus said coldly, picking up a hand weight, which Robert quickly took out of his hand. Any sort of cardio was clearly not an option today. Angus glared at Robert angrily. He'd struck a nerve.

"You going to bore the crap out of her again by telling her how much better off she'd be without you? You gave her a ring yesterday--your promise to be ready to meet that 'for better or worse' thing, unconditionally. You don't get to opt out that fast now. Its what you've always done. Its too late to run now. Its not really what you want anyway, and you know it. You couldn't seriously believe that being with her only meant that you get to give to her in the relationship and that you don't have to let her into those deep places, did you? You're a git if that's what you thought. Love doesn't always work on your terms. I know its a frightening thought to think that perhaps you might not have as much time with her as you want. But the fact still remains that none of us know if we have the next 50 years or the next 50 seconds."

"What are you saying, exactly?"

"Stop debating it. You're both miserable without the other. You need to do what's right for you and her and for Rose. Stop waiting. If being with her right now is what you want, then do it. You know what the right thing is. There's always going to be a reason its inconvenient. Stop making excuses."

By the time it was time to start breakfast, he was showered, changed, and had made a fire in the living room fireplace.  Out the large glass windows he could see the snow falling heavily. It was going to be a good day to be inside, and at the moment, he liked being in the abnormally quiet living room with only the light from the fire. He poured himself a cup of tea and was sitting in front of the fire, deep in thought. Not only had yesterday given him a lot to think about, but when Robert got parental, he always left Angus with a lot of things to think about. And this time was no different.  He heard the clock chime 5 am. It was time to start breakfast.  He sighed tiredly because of just the general aching he felt and he took another sip of tea.  He'd muscle through cooking breakfast for the house's nearly 30 residents in a minute, he decided.

Bella woke it was to find Angus gone from bed, she looked at the clock it was four am. She quickly got out of bed and went to go shower. She changed into her favorite dark blue skirt that hit her ankles and paired it with her white peasant blouse. She pinned her hair up in a french twist as she tried to figure out where Angus had went. 'He better not being doing something he's not supposed to be otherwise he's in big trouble.' She thought to herself as she looked at the clock again and realized it was five till five am. She finished her hair and quickly walked out of the room, stopped to look in on Rose before practically running downstairs.

She was bound and determined to get the cooking done before everyone was downstairs. She also really wanted Angus to relax today but getting him to do that would be hard enough. So she focused solely on cooking breakfast and heard familiar running feet towards the kitchen. She looked over just as Rose entered the kitchen with a huge grin on her face. "Good Morning baby girl." Bella said as Rose came over and hugged her leg.

"Hi, mommy. Where ggie?" Rose asked looking up at her.

"I don't know sweetheart, try the sitting room." She said with a smile.

Rose took off from the kitchen and ran into the sitting room. She looked around and found the chair he was sitting in. "Ggie!" She exclaimed as she climbed up the chair and sat in his lap. "Morning ggie." She wrapped her arms around his neck in a hug. "I drew picture for you at maw maw's but i losted it." She said with a small frown.  

Bella wondered how to start the topic of eloping with Angus as she looked and found some dough sitting. She knew Angus did it and shook her head as she grabbed it, she wasn't going to allow Angus to get into the kitchen and cook because he still needed to rest. She started making the cinnamon rolls had them prepped for the oven then put them in as soon as the oven was ready. She put the bacon in the pan then started on eggs then wondered if she could manage to get muffins in there as well. She got the eggs in another pan and used magic to help her get blueberries muffins as well.

((This one really does suck))

He heard the pitter patter of little feet on the floor and had just enough time to set his tea mug aside before Rose climbed up on his lap.

"Good morning," he said. "How are you?" He listened to her tell him she'd made him a picture at Grandma's. "Well, if Grandma finds it, I bet she'll give it to me, but you can always make me another one. I like hanging your pictures in the kitchen where everyone can see them. Today might be a really good day to make pictures because its going to be too cold to go out. Or, maybe we can talk Uncle Brian into getting out the magic crayons after breakfast."

Okay, so the crayons weren't magic, but the kids didn't need to know that. Brian spoiled the kids with the crayons and let them scribble all over the walls. He just used a quick charm to "erase" the crayon later. It made Khaat crazy, but Angus didn't see Brian stopping it any time soon. The kids liked it, and so did Brian.

"Would you like some hot apple juice while Mom is making breakfast?" Okay, so that wasn't technically correct either. It was hot spiced cider, and it was a ridiculously simple recipe. But it at least had the illusion of looking nutritious. And it was generally less messy for little ones than cocoa.

"No, you don't," Suki said, passing through the living room to go to the kitchen. "Cocoa is better for them. I'll have it ready in a moment." She kept going, straight for the kitchen.

"Suki's stubborn," Angus said to Rose with a smile.

"Good morning," Robert said, coming downstairs. He was changed and ready for work. "Rose, I think if you ask Gam, she's got some new storybooks and new coloring books that she's been saving for a snowy day. She might get them out for you. She'll be down in a moment." Khaat's kids all knew Kate as Gam because when they were too little to talk, they could say Gam but they couldn't say Grandma. They could say Papa but not Grandpa. it had just stuck.

"Good," She said with a smile. "I hope so. It was a special drawing of you, mommy, and me. I hope grandma finds it and sends it back to me. I really want you to see it. I don't feel like drawing today, I want uki to read to me. She makes good voices when she reads." She said as she snuggled in close to Angus.

Bella pulled out the cinnamon rolls from the oven then put them to the side and then checked the muffins to see if they were done yet. She left them in there a little longer as she put the eggs in a dish as well as the bacon. She placed the cinnamon rolls on a plate to be taken out into the dining room, she then checked the muffins again they were done this time. Sighing in relief she put them in a basket then carried everything one by one out to the dining room. She had everything set up then went to the kitchen to make sure everything was off. She filled the sink with hot soapy water and put all the dirty dishes in the sink then made sure all the counters were wiped free of any mess. Looking around she took off the apron setting it where it belonged before heading towards the sitting room.

"Yes please," Rose said grinning as she carefully climbed down from his lap.

She looked over when she heard Suki's voice and smiled when Suki mentioned cocoa. She giggled at Angus' words and put her finger over her lips. "Uki can hear from what ever room she's in what someone says. She told me she could prove it so I went to mommy's room and whispered something. I came back and she knew what I said." She said her eyes were excited when she said this.

Rose looked over when she heard Roberts voice. "Papa!" She ran over and hugged his leg. "She does! Do you think Gam can read to us." She asked him stepping back so she could look up at him.

Bella came into the sitting room and saw Rose talking with Robert. "Foods ready." She said with a smile then went over to where Angus was sitting in the armchair. "How you feeling today?" She said almost whispered so that Rose wouldn't hear her.

"I've never heard Suki read, but if you say she does good voices, I believe you," he smiled. He listened when she said Suki could hear exceptionally well. "I think that's part of Suki's magic. House elves can do some pretty wonderful things."

Angus wasn't surprised when Robert got a big hug from Rose. There were a lot of adults that, if they ran across Robert's path the wrong way, thought of him as a stone hearted bastard. Well, that was their own mistake. Here, where he didn't have to use that cold exterior to protect his family, he was warm and nurturing--a side the wizarding public rarely saw. And, Angus believed he was a wonderful grandfather. The kids loved him.

"You know," Robert said, picking up Rose, "there isn't anything Gam likes more than to read. Its just about her favorite thing in the whole world. I'm quite sure you could get her to read to you. But, right now, I hope you're hungry. It smells like your mom has made a wonderful breakfast. And I'm starving. How about you?"

"I'm good," Angus said quietly. "A little stoved up, but I'm certainly better than yesterday. Its been so long since I've had a day off with nothing pressing that I don't know if I'll know what to do with myself." He smiled. "Rose seems to be no worse for wear. That's good. And how are you?"